Kensei weakest? very low population | Forums

[XGiNgAhardcoreX]

In the past 2 days I have been playing I have seen the Kensei more and more. This I believe to be attributed to the fact his unblock-able is amazing and because of his range. To day alone I have been beaten by the Kensei more times then I can count and on top of that his range seems to me a bit over powered. I am saying that because I can't run or dodge my way away from him as his attacks will still hit you. When facing the Kensei it is almost impossible to get away unless you kill them (if the other player knows how to use him). Further more if you would play him a bit more you would also notice that his attacks lunge at and enemy fleeing making it quite easy to get a kill if you hurt them quick.
The lunge part of his attack seems a bit unreal to me and should be fixed but that may also have been a way to make him easier to play with. These are just a few thoughts on the Kensei that I can see in game so far if you disagree with any part of this I would love to see it from your point of view.

[Ezcendant]

I found the kensei quite good personally, but you have to have the mindset for him. If you're the type of person that sees a japanese samurai ninja master ninja ninja with a big sword and then runs at the enemy you're a free kill.

You need to know the range of his dash grab and play from around there. That gives you poke into combo potential or the aforementioned dash grab. Now yes, you can escape grabs and parry attacks, but that can be done to literally everything in the game, so it's not really a strike against the kensei, just For Honor in general. The Kensei is more telegraphed and a bit slower, which makes him easier to parry, but easier is relative. A top tier player will parry everyone.

[BearB0NES]

I mained kensei in this open beta. Made it to prestige 1 level 17. My short and sweet is I found him to be a monster in Deathmatch and Dominion, and meh in brawl and 1v1s. Obviously I am not a pro but here is why I felt this way.

Deathmatch and Dominion: Kensei has 3 skills that are sick good.

-His tier 2 perk that debuffs some ones attack and defense is really good for the initial 1v1s and throwing it the guy that wont stop running when hes the last on the enemy team.

-His tier 3 perk that gives you 3 sips of an Estus flask is insanely good. Although it doesn't heal full like some other classes skills it has insanely fast animation time. Making it usable in middle of combat. Most importantly it saves your life when you are about to bleed out.

-His tier 4 perk that makes all attacks unblockable is straight savage tier. It is insanely good in 1v1 fights. but The best time to use it is when you know you are about to 1v2. I won multiple 1v2s by using this skill and waiting for revenge. Its also amazing against those pesky warlords and conqs.


In 1v1 and 2v2 he seemed pretty meh tier. His attacks are just so slow that the only real way to land blows is after a guard break or a parry. So my whole strategy revolved around that. Unfortunately good players are really able to punish you when you make mistakes. I just don't know where I stand because I had fights where I could kill some one without being touched, and I had fights where I just couldn't even land a single blow on my opponent.

I think kensei's unblockable is amazing, but it has to be used properly. If your opponent has space to dodge backwards do not use his unblockable. Only use it when your opponents back is to a wall and can only dodge left and right.

A really savage combo mid fight for me was to parry an attack Gaurdbreak then throw them against the wall dazed and use the unblockable on them. If the opponent was out of stamina that was often it I would combo them out right there.


I biggest problem with Kensei was classes like warden and peacekeeper that have light attacks faster then your gaurd break. They could see you throwing out a guard break and slice you up every time. Then combo you.

[Stormstriker90]

"Kensei not that great" lmao

Kensei is arguably the top Vanguard, if you take out the number of ledge kills from the Raider's shoulder-carry. Longest range, he just got speed and damage buffs, dashing strikes, unblockable attack that can be chained from light attacks, heavy attacks, and even guard-break-throws. Raider and Kensei dominate matches if the player even has an iota of an idea how to play. Warden, on the other hand, pretty much falls short and is regularly seen as a free kill. I've played every class to at least Rep1 (yes I really have: champ status + 4 man squad playing virtually nonstop all weekend, plus the time I spent in the Alpha and Beta) and of all of them, Warden demanded the most skill

[HeadCollecter14]

Anyone who thinks the Kensei is weak can pull up can get their head chopped off.

[PhotoMadness]

Kensei is one of the strongest take bit of getting use to to play him well he is scary strong.

[vennstrom.]

The Kensei's problem is its almost utter lack of effective offensive mixup.
I played Kensei for a while in the open Beta losing pretty much only to PK and my own stupid mistakes, but after a while I realized: all I was doing was baiting people into mistakes (usually by feinting) and then punishing those, usually with untechable guardbreak (after dash, feint or parry) - shove into wall - overhead heavy.
Problem is, the Kensei isn't uniquely good at this. There are other classes with similarly strong or better feints and punishes, who have actual offensive mixups.

[Peligrad]

Kensie is fine now.

Yeah he was a little weak before the most recent buff but now that his light attacks are hitting for 33% now he's pretty beastly.

He's the only vanguard who has strong dash attack options. And his range is nuts.

[wefal]

I played Orochi for the most time of beta, and last hours I was playing Kensei, I did some footage of fights vs assasins and Nobushi that were higher lvl than me. I faced 1-2 Prestige or tier what it called on my lvl 11 Kensei. And his kit is not weakest .I dont pretend on a pro level gameplay but I think Im doing good for that level of expirience i had at last hours of beta. Its just hard to play and hard to master. And I will switch to Kensei at release 100% just fell in love with this class.

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Well played. I also main Kensei (started with Katana Samurai but loved the Nodachi more), and I would like to suggest you to counter more rather then simpe block.
You had alot of opportunities where you could counterattack to dish hit here and there. Also, try to use more of his dash attack? even if just to confuse the enemy.
Other than that, great gameplay !

[WolfsmundStarke]

Kensei is balance He share attack speed with Raider but have more Mobility with good range